PM plea to ‘adopted’ state

Inaugurating the new Assam capital complex, Singh made a ‘‘special appeal’’ to the youth of the state: ‘‘Come, join me and help me write a new chapter in the long and tortuous history of Assam.’’

Fresh employment opportunities, he said, could be created ‘‘because you have a prime minister from your state.’’

‘‘We have to all work together to build a new Assam, free from fear of want and exploitation.’’ Singh has been a Rajya Sabha from Assam for three consecutive terms since 1991 and is technically an ‘‘ordinary resident’’ of Assam.

Addressing the audience as ‘‘my own people in my own adopted state,’’ he outlined a NABARD scheme to provide funds to over 20,000 self-help groups over the next one year to benefit at least two lakh families. He also assured Central help to the state government in preparing a blueprint for employment generation.

Calling this as ‘‘Asia’s century’’, Singh referred to the Look East policy and said Assam and the North-East would be the springboard for the country to launch itself into an ‘‘intense economic integration’’ with South East Asia.

‘‘Assam can become an entrepot, a centre for commerce and trade where goods, ideas and people from many lands meet and interact, both economically and intellectually. We are entering into Free Trade Agreements and Comprehensive Economic Agreements with Thailand, Singapore and ASEAN so that our trade and economic relations intensify further.’’ Assam, he said, should become the ‘‘Gateway of India to the East.’’

‘‘If the Gateway of India in Mumbai symbolises the might of the colonial British Empire, this Gateway to the East represents a resurgent India, an economically strong India, an India which is integral to the Asian century,’’ Singh said. Criticised earlier by the Opposition AGP and BJP for making ‘‘namesake visits’’ to Assam during floods, Singh announced formation of a new institution to tackle floods.

Describing it as one that would provide a ‘‘new deal’’ for Assam, he said the body could be called Brahmaputra Valley Authority or the North-East Valley Authority and provide effective solutions for flood control, generation of electricity, irrigation and infrastructure development.

This would be in addition to efforts by the government to look at the international dimension of floods.

‘‘It is time for us to think of new institutions to handle this gigantic task of addressing floods in Assam and the North East … tinkering with institutions…may not suffice. May be the time has come for a great leap forward in our approach…(for) considering whether we need to establish a cohesive, autonomous, self- contained entity on the lines of Tennessee Valley Authority or Damodar Valley Corporation,’’ Singh said.